Living in the Land of the Dead
by LordFrieza
Summary: Original Story based in the Walking Dead World.  Chris and his family are in the beginning stages of the out break.  Seeing things starting to go to hell he puts in for paid leave and gets his family together to run.  But did he wait to late anyway?
1. Chapter 1

_**Living in the land of the Dead**_

_**Chapter 1 (Escape)**_

Chris looked around as walked through the Wal-Mart. He had been working here for the last six years, and over that time he had worked up some paid leave, bought a couple of guns, got engaged, got married, and now was going to college. So why in the hell he let his assistant manager talk him into working over nights for six months he would never know. It really wasn't so bad. After they sorted through the impulse items and stocked the candy wall he was able to catch up on some of his homework at the register, well he could if his manager wasn't watching, but the last week had been different. Every night the place was packed. People was buying anything and everything they could. The news saying that some new virus was tearing through the country and heading toward Oklahoma didn't make things any easier.

"Jesus did ya' hear? Stoney's little 'un caught that stuff! They said he was stone cold dead, and then he turned around and bit his sister suzie. They admitted him to the hospital and that was about two days ago. It's gotten worse…. He's been bitting nurses, doctors… Someone said he even bit his own mama. Damn near tore her throat out." Someone said in his line as he checked them out.

A few minutes later he looked up as Angeline came over to where he was and offered to take over. Chris noticed the bandage on her hand as she tapped his shoulder.

"What happened Angie?" Chris asked as he looked at her.

"My fuckin' boyfriend… He went nuts outside of the apartment… He bit me this morning and I locked the door and called the cops. They had to wrestle him to the ground and I heard them say that he bit a couple of 'em." She replied.

"This shit is getting too damned weird. I think that I'm going tell Rog' that I'm taking leave. Shit I got about a month's worth saved up, and if this stuff is spreading I might be better off being at home with the family." He said as he stepped away from the register.

"I don't blame you at all." She said as she stepped up and began checking people out.

"Hey Chris, would you mind buying a bottle of water for me? I'm burning up here and I can't buy anything while I'm on register." She said.

"Sure." He said as he walked toward the sliding doors.

He walked up to the coke machine and slid two dollars in. After he pressed the Aquafina button he waited to hear it drop. The moment it did he turned around to see a woman stumble in holding a napkin to her neck.

"Call 911!" She shouted as she walked toward him.

"What happened?" he asked.

"My dad collapsed out there… Doc's been telling him that he needed to take it easy for the last few months. His heart isn't as good as it use to be, and he collapsed… I bent down to help him up and he's hurt… He bit me!" She shouted.

Chris ran back into the store and dialed 911 and waited for a few moments. At first nothing happened, but finally an operators voice came over the phone.

"911, What's your emergency?" The operator asked.

"We have someone bitten and someone else who has collapsed outside of the Tahlequah Wal-Mart. I'm heading to inform the manager right now, and you need to send an ambulance as soon as possible." Chris said to the operator.

"We'll have an ambulance there as soon as possible sir." The operator replied.

"They're sending someone. Come on back and take a seat." He said as he lead her toward a wooden bench.

"thanks…" The woman said as she sat down.

Chris ran into the back and found Rog' in the middle of getting a reason to promote Katlin the part time cashier who had been talking about moving up the corporate ladder for some time.

"Rog' there's an emergency out there, and ah… I'm taking leave after tonight. Write it in and pensile me out for the month." Chris said.

"You know that you have to give us three weeks notice." Rog' said as he stood up causing Katlin's mouth to come off his stiff member.

"You now that you aren't suppose to be screwing Employees, so fuck off." Chris said as he looked at Rog.

"Fuck… Fine, but we're gonna talk about this later." Rog said.

"No we aren't. I won't say a thing about her sucking you off, and you say that you misplaced my leave request somewhere. In fact you just sent me home since I looked sick." Chris said as he looked Rog in the face and walked out toward sporting goods.

"Chris buddy! Hey before you leave man I saved it back for you." Tony the night sporting goods department manager said as he walked Chris over to the counter.

"Saved back what Tony?" Chris asked.

"The double barrel. You said that you wanted to buy it right?" Tony asked.

"Shit… yeah I did…. Damn man I completely forgot about it. Do you got time to do it tonight?" Chris asked.

"I was hoping that you would ask since I already ran the info for you. It's ready to go." Tony said as he pulled the double barrel twelve gauge shotgun from the cabinet and handed it to him.

"So, six hundred and fifty right?" Chris asked.

"Actually man… Consider part of it a late birthday gift. Just need three hundred. I already put in the other part for you." Tony said.

"Fuck man thanks! Say give me about two boxes of double aught buck shot as well." Chris said as he paid for the gun and the ammo.

"Alright, I'll carry this out for you sir." Tony said as they walked outside.

"Dude, seriously have you heard about the shit going down?" Tony asked.

"Some seriously nasty sickness. I just took leave for the month. I'm thinking that I'm going to load up the travel trailer and head toward Green Leaf. Not a whole lot of folks go that way really, and it might end up being the safest place to be." Chris said.

"Damn… Say you mind if me and Criese come out there?" Tony asked.

"Naw don't mind at all, but be sure to bring some food. I've got a lot of canned crap that I'm packing, but it might be good to have some extra." Chris said as he walked out toward his old truck.

On the drive up the small mountain Chris thought about the crap going on and almost laughed as the thoughts of George A. Romero's Night of the Living dead came to his mind. He shrugged it off knowing that if anything even remotely like that was to happen the government would be all over it. He pulled into the drive way and saw his dad cleaning out his old RV.

"Dad, What's up?" Chris asked as he looked at the older man.

"Son… I was getting ready to call you. If you think that you can haul that trailer of yours I suggest you load it up right now and let's get the hell out of dodge. Stuff's gotten bad around here. The Lady that lives next door had to fight off her husband and damned be all if she didn't have to shoot him. The thing was he didn't fall until he took a shot to the head. I already talked to your wife and she agrees about leaving." The older man said.

"So do I. Alright I'm going to start packing food. Did you grab your gun?" Chris asked his dad.

"Yeah I loaded up the pistols and the shot gun. I left the twenty-two since it jams on every third shot." He said.

"Alright, I'll grab my 30-30 and the two boxes of shells I got for it. Let's hope that we don't have to use them." Chris said as he walked in to find his wife already filling paper sacks with groceries.

"Oh thank God! I was scared to death about you!" She said as she ran toward him and kissed him deeply.

"it's alright hun, I just told them at work that I'm taking a month's leave. Figured that would give the world some time to sort its crap out." I said with a smile.

"I don't know… And if it isn't then don't worry about going back. Sweetie carry those sacks out to the travel trailer and I'll call my mom." She started to say.

"Huh heading out there might not be the best idea." He said as he looked at her.

"Why not?" She asked.

"It's kind of crowded out there. I thought that we might head to Green leaf. It's a lot less crowded." He stated.

"Let me call her anyway and tell her where we're heading. I would rather for her to know in case they want to come and meet us." She said.

"Alright." He said as he began walking the bags out to the trailer and looked out to see a few people walking toward the house.

"Dad… Get into your RV and get it started… I'm going to hook up the Travel Trailer real quick." Chris said as he started the truck and backed it to the travel Trailer and pulled out the trailer lights.

The sounds of moans began to fill the air as the people they saw down the road began walking toward them.

"What the hell?" The older man said.

"We need to leave… I got a bad feeling… I got a real bad feeling." Chris said as he hurried into the house to get his wife.


	2. World of Nature

_**Living in the land of the Dead**_

_**Chapter 2 (World of Nature)**_

Trina stood outside of the small travel trailer. It wasn't two days after they had packed up and 'escaped' before some of the people that knew her husband had showed up. They had brought some food as well, and it was welcomed, but from what they said the worst hadn't even happened yet. Tony had told them that the next day there was seventeen attacks inside of the store. It turned worse when those that was attacked and bleed out got up and started attacking. He hadn't even stopped to clock out instead he ran to the back of the store and got out from the back and made his way around to his car parked by the Tire and Lube Express. He had got his girlfriend and all of the food they had in the house together and headed toward Greenleaf park.

What bothered her was that she hadn't heard from her parents since calling them. The cell phones had began to make a strange sound, and yesterday they didn't even work at all. She had crawled into the truck to see if she could get someone on the CB radio, but the hill that separated them from the highway seemed to stop the radio signals. For all rights and purposes they might as well of been on the moon.

"Sweetheart." She heard her husband calling as he came walking toward the camp site.

"Everything alright?" She asked.

"Yeah… I actually just walked up to the ranger's office. It's abandoned. I'd say from the looks of things they cleared out what food, water, and confiscated weapons they had in there and left out." He said as he looked at her.

"Should we leave?" She asked.

"For the moment we seem to be alright here, but at the first sign of trouble we may have to leave. I don't want to be here if anything comes looking." He said before he walked toward his dad's RV.

"Son of a Bitch." A voice said from under the RV.

"What's wrong dad?" Chris asked as he knelt down to see his dad cursing at the old class C RV camper.

"This piece has a gas leak." His dad said as he crawled out.

"Hell… I thought that you went over it with a fine tooth comb. You kept saying that it was ready to go." Chris said.

"Yeah, Yeah, but shit happened after I checked it. Hell I wasn't even sure the thing was going to start when we got ready to leave." His dad said.

"Where's the leak at?" Chris asked as he knelt down to look under the RV again.

"It's the fuel line. There's a pin hole right about here." His dad said as he pointed the old metal fuel line.

"Hmmm… A little rubber hose and couple of clamps would fix it. At least patch it long enough maybe for us to find another fuel line." Chris suggested.

"You got any rubber hose?" His dad asked.

"Yeah, but it's far too big. The stuff I got is left over from when I replaced the hoses on my heater core." Chris said before the sounds of the radio got their attention.

Both of them ran toward Chris' old truck and looked at Trina as she stood confused. They listened to the words coming from the radio.

"Again… This is the Emergency Broadcasting Station. This is not a test. Earlier it was said that everyone should stay in their homes and do not attempt to venture to any public buildings. This has changed. Do not attempt to stay in any home no matter how well stocked or well secured. There are rescue shelters in the following areas. Cherokee county – Tahlequah Community building, First Baptist Church, Come and Dine Full Gospel Church, The old Armory. Muskogee county – Wal-Mart, Seventh Day Followers Church, Muskogee county Court house. Tulsa County…." The radio continued reading off the rescue shelters for several minutes.

"Should… Should we go?" Trina asked.

"I… I don't think that it would be a good idea." Chris said as he stood there.

"What wouldn't be a good idea?" Tony asked as he walked over.

He listened for a few minutes and heard the announcements of the rescue shelters again.

"Shit, why shouldn't we go?" Tony asked.

"Think about it man. One person get in there that's been bit. It just takes one and then they turn and start attacking everyone. Within a couple of hours the place is crawling. It might be better to be mobile. At least that way we can move if we have to." Chris said.

"Stay mobile? Jesus man you expect us to live in RV's and tents?" Tony asked.

"Not full time, but come on. Man how many times have we watched those living dead movies? Going any place where they might have someone that been bit is suicide plain and simple." Chris said.

"What about when we need a doctor? What then? Your pre med classes are only going to take us so far man." Tony said.

"Look I know… I really do, but we can't afford to chance it." Chris stated.

"Dude… I'm not telling you what to do, but Criese is pregnant. I mean she took the test like a week ago. We need to make sure that she can see a doctor." Tony said as he turned around.

"Tony… Buddy look I know it sounds bad, but if you go to one those shelters it will turn to shit. I promise you that it will. Give it a week. If they are still broadcasting I won't try to stop you." Chris said.

Tony nodded and walked toward the tent he and Criese was sharing. Chris turned around and saw Trina standing there with her hands on her hips.

"Where do you get off telling anyone to stay or go?" She asked looking at her husband.

"I don't want anyone to get hurt." He answered honestly.

"Who says that they will? Those shelters might be safe. Chris for God's sake they might be completely fine!" Trina exclaimed.

"Trina calm down and listen to me. This isn't a tornado, it isn't a flood, and it sure the hell isn't some random localized thing. This is the end baby. Fuck… Every day I watched those movies, every fucking day I read that stupid survival guide and thought to myself how awesome it would be. I don't have to wonder anymore. I don't have to worry about how awesome it would be now." Chris said as he sat down on the tail gate of the old truck.

Trina looked at him for a moment before she climbed up beside him. She looked at his big frame and tried to understand what he meant.

"Babe I didn't mean anything." She said as she leaned her head on his shoulder.

"I know… But we can't go and make mistakes like that. Eventually we're going to have to find some place secure, and I got a couple of ideas, but for the moment we just have to let things settle." Chris said.

The week passed and the broadcasts started fading. Slowly every radio station was nothing but static. Tony looked at Chris before he shook his head. He couldn't bring himself to admit that going would have been a mistake. He wouldn't admit that his friend most likely did save his life and the lives of his girlfriend and unborn child.

Over the course of the next few days Chris started to notice the low amount of canned food they had. While they were taking it easy they had basically went through well over half of the supplies they had stocked. Knowing that and knowing that his dad's RV still needed a rubber hose and some gas a much needed trip to town was in order.

"Wait… you're going where?" Trina asked as she looked at her husband.

"We don't have a choice. We need to get some food and we need to get a little bit of rubber hose and gas for dad. On the way in was a gas station, but I don't know how much if any gas it had in it. I know I left the house with a full tank of gas, but driving this far and pulling that trailer did drop the tank down to three quarters." Chris said.

"So now you're going to go and search for supplies?" She asked.

"I've got to. Look I know better than to go too far into any place. I know that besides the gas station down the road there's a Wal-Mart about forty – five minutes from here." He said.

"Then I'm going." She said as she looked at him.

"Hun…" He started before she narrowed her eyes at him.

"Look I can shoot as good as you can, and you'll need help loading up whatever supplies we get. Don't go 'huh' to me." She said crossing her arms.

After a few more minutes of discussing it Chris finally nodded. He looked to see Tony talking to Criese and soon his friend joined them.

"Alright… She's going to stay with your dad. He's got a gun and they got the RV and my car. I would suggest it since it's faster, but your truck can haul more." Tony said as he crawled behind the front seat into the mini bench seat of the old 77' ford truck.

Chris turned the key and cranked the truck over for a minute before it caught and started. He put it in gear and headed up the hill. The moment they reached the top he began taking the small almost one lane road down the hill toward the front of the state park. He could see that the gate had been closed and chain locked since their coming here. Chris looked at the old pad lock and walked to his tool box on the back of the truck. He had never had a reason to use the bolt cutters he had bought at the outlet mall before. He quickly cut through the pad lock and pulled the chain back through. He then opened the gate and pulled the truck through it before closing it again.

"We need to get another pad lock in town." He said as he looked at them.

"Why?" Tony asked.

"Think about it man. That probly is the reason the park didn't get many more visitors. Whoever was manning the registration area decided to screw it all and take off. I can't blame them for that. So getting another pad lock at the least will keep the look of the place being closed." Chris said as they started to take off.

A mile down the road and Chris started to see the cars in ditches, several just abandoned along the side of the roads. When he got close to the gas station that had been there when came through all that was left was a charred piece of concrete and some twisted metal. From the tire tracks on the road someone had lost control and went through the pumps. After that it was fairly easy to guess what happened. Shaking his head they kept heading toward the Wal-Mart.

"Fuck." Chris said as he looked at the cars on the highway.

"Jesus… Where did they all go?" Trina asked as they managed to weave through some before Chris had to stop and started pushing them out of the way with Tony's help. After they cleared a few of them out of the way both of them got back into the truck.

"My guess would be a shelter." Chris said as they turned into the Wal-Mart and saw a mostly empty parking lot.

Chris looked at them both and grabbed his rifle.

"Trina pull the truck around the back. Head toward the Grocery side and shut it off. Tony and I will go in and see what's what. We get what we need and come out that way." Chris said as both Tony and him walked into the store.

"This is your new Shotgun huh?" Tony asked as he walked with the double barrel.

"Yeah." Chris answered.

"You know if the place is still opened they are going to call the cops." Tony said.

"Look around you Tony. This isn't open." Chris said as they walked carefully through the now empty shelves of canned goods.

"Looks like most of it has been bought out." Tony said.

"Yeah, we'll check the back. Chances are they didn't even bother to bring the rest of it out before everyone left." Chris said as they walked into the shipping and receiving section for the grocery department.

The both of them looked at the pallets of food before them. It looked like about a third of it was romain noodles and refried beans.

"Mmmmm Mmmm. Breakfast of Champions." Tony said as they began tearing the wrapping off of the pallets.

"Alright let's get a cart and start loading this stuff." Chris said.

Before long the two of them had two shopping carts apiece and began filling them with the canned food and noodles. They both walked out and saw the truck parked. They loaded it up and walked back in and came back out with another load. They looked at Trina who nodded and climbed out of the truck and into the bed to help load the food. They came back out with another load before the sound of a moan caught their attention.

"What the hell?" Chris asked as he looked around.

They turned around to see something move by the pallets. Chris walked over and looked down to see a woman laying there. She had been attacked and whatever had done it had eaten almost everything. He could see the way one of her eyes was dangling from her head as she turned toward them.

"Oh God…." Tony said as he came up behind Chris and quickly turned around and vomited.

"What is it?" Trina asked as she neared them.

"Don't come over here." Chris said sternly before he turned back toward the 'undead' woman.

"Jesus… It's really happening." Chris said as he pointed the rifle and pulled the trigger.

"We got enough food… I'll grab those gas cans I saw in there and then we'll get going. We can stop at the station they had out front and see if it has any gas." Chris said as he walked into the shipping area and grabbed the two five gallon gas cans.

He started to walk out when the sound of shuffling foot steps caught his attention. He stepped back and looked at the sight of several 'zombies' in about every shape and size walking toward him.

"Oh fuck…" He said as he ran toward the door and slammed it shut.

The sounds of banging could be heard on the other side.

"Let's get the hell out of here." Chris said as he started the truck and they drove toward the gas station.

"Tony see if the pumps will come on. Trina don't even shut this son of a bitch off. If I say go you go." He said as he got out of the truck and took the cans over to the nearest pump.

"SHIT!" Tony screamed as he came out of the station.

"What the fuck happened?" Chris asked.

"There's… There's a head alive in there man! It's just a fucking head!" Tony said as he looked toward the station.

"Son of a bitch…" Chris said as he looked at the station and then at the pump. He pulled the handle out and squeezed it.

A stream of gas came out and soon he began filling the cans and then the truck.

The sounds of moans caught their attention and this time Trina screamed as she saw a man who should have been burned to death walking toward the truck.


	3. Dead Men Walking

_**Living in the land of the Dead**_

_**Chapter 3 (Dead Men Walking)**_

__Chris looked out the windshield of the old truck as they headed back toward the park. He could feel Trina's arms around his right arm. She was still shaken up over what had happened, and to be honest he wasn't a whole lot better. The 'burned' man had almost made it to the truck and Chris did the only thing he could. He ran forward and hit the man with the butt of his rifle. The moment he pulled the rifle back from the man pieces of his skin and flesh came off and stuck to the end of the rifle. The man himself stumbled for a second, but caught himself and lunged forward. Chris stepped back only to have the man try to grab his foot. He backed away from the man and looked to see the pump click off. Deciding not to try and squeeze anymore out Chris shouted for Tony to pull the hose from the truck and put it back into the pump. They crawled into the truck and Chris put it in gear running over the 'burned' man in the process.

For several minutes no one said a word until Chris looked at Tony who was looking out the window. He heard his friend groan for a moment before Tony reached down and found the handle to row the window down. The moment Chris heard Tony vomit and the splash on the pavement he stopped the truck to let Tony finish.

"Jesus… They were dead… I mean they were really dead…" Tony said after he finished.

"I know." Chris said as they looked at each other.

"Do you think that everybody is?" Tony asked.

"I don't know. I would figure that part if not all of our head government officials are alive, but I have doubts. To be completely honest I think that the people who are still alive are the ones who stayed away from large gatherings." Chris said as he looked at his friend and then at his wife who was finally starting to calm down.

"So what are we going to do?" Tony asked.

"Get back to the campsite. Keep the fire low, keep the noise down, and see where we are as time passes. The food we got should last us for a couple of months. Shit… The rubber hose and pad lock." Chris said as he banged his hand on the steering wheel.

"It was pretty pressing matters man. I don't think that anyone blames you for what happened." Tony said.

"Babe, maybe you can patch your dad's fuel line some other way." Trina suggested not wanting to go back to the Wal-Mart.

"Maybe… I still want the park to look closed." Chris said as they drove toward the park.

"Maybe the registration office has another pad lock in it, or maybe the rangers office does." Tony suggested.

"Yeah, we'll check those when we get there." Chris said as they got to moving again.

The old truck finally pulled up to the front gate and Chris put it in park. He slowly opened the door and got out. Trina watched as he walked to the registration office and opened the door. After a few minutes he walked out with a pad lock and a ring of keys.

"There is no idea of which key will work, but at least there is another pad lock." He said to them as he began trying the keys on the lock before finally finding one that fit and after working with it for a few seconds it opened the old padlock.

Once he was satifisied that the lock would work he opened the gate and had Trina pull the truck through. When she got through he closed the gate and began the process of locking it down again. He looked at the cyclone fence gate and the small area of fence around the registration office. It wasn't fancy, but it would deter anyone from just pulling in. He walked to the truck and climbed in as they headed down to the RV.

Tony climbed out of the truck to see Criese running to him. She caught him in a hug and held on to him.

"I was worried about you." She said to her boyfriend.

"There isn't any reason to worry." Tony said.

"Alright we got some more food, but we need to think about our situation." Chris said as he looked at his dad.

"How bad is it?" His dad asked.

"It's pretty bad. The road ways are crowed. We can get through, but to be honest I'm not sure how fast we'll be able to travel." Chris answered.

"No hose?" His dad asked.

"We found out what happened… Dad remember those George Romero movies?" Chris asked.

For a few minutes the two talked until the older man had to take a seat. He shook his head and looked toward the others.

"So it's really happening. The dead are coming back to life. Jesus Christ preserve us." His dad said.

"We got out of Wal-Mart alright, but I think that it's because most of the people who had been in the cars was heading to the rescue shelters. I have no doubt that any one of those places are over run by now." Chris said.

"So what are you thinking?" His dad asked.

"Remember Fort Gibson?" Chris asked.

"The town or the civil war fort?" his dad asked.

"I'm talking about the fort itself. It still has all of the walls standing, and there is a good chance that it was left deserted. With the buildings there, stoves, access to trees around it, and room to grow some crops it might be the best chance we have." Chris said.

"There is McAlester." His dad said.

"I thought about the state prison, but what about it being occupied?" Chris asked.

"If worse comes to worse they will ship the prisoners out. If they can't… Well we'll have to worry about cleaning it up, but not about attacks." His dad answered.

"So either the fort or the prison." Chris said.

"I would say the prison before the fort. The fort was built for defensive purposes against people. There are some good size holes in the walls to put a gun through. Those holes aren't going to stop anything from reaching through. The prison has a huge cyclone fence around it. It should keep those things out, keep us in. Not to mention it is a good size bigger than the fort, so we can cultivate more land. When do you plan on leaving?" His dad asked.

"We should try to do it before winter sets in." Chris answered.


	4. On the Run

_**AN: I want to take a second and say that this chapter was pretty hard to write. It involves some disturbing material. If I didn't feel necessary to show how things change and how quickly I wouldn't have included it. That said please understand that I do not advocate or suggest that anyone do any of the things depicted in this chapter. This is fiction! Thank you**_

_**Living in the land of the Dead**_

_**Chapter 4 (On the Run)**_

__Chris slowly got out of the bed in the travel trailer. He looked at Trina as she lay sleeping. They had started moving toward the prison about three days ago and during that time they would try find a place to get a few hours rest on the road. The roads had been conjested along the way and it forced Tony and him to have to get out and push the cars out of the way so they could make it through. They had carried a weapon with them and Chris was glad for after the last time. He knocked on the window of a car and didn't see anything move. The car windows had been tinted so dark that you couldn't see in and so Chris opened the door and was greeted by three of those things as they moaned and turned toward him. He unloaded on them, but not before he was almost bit. Tony came around and saw Chris backed against another car his face pale.

"Jesus… They never got out… It… It looks like their kid turned and then went to eating on them. Then they turned and they all just stayed in there… God…" Chris said as he turned and vomited.

"You alright man?" Tony asked.

"Fuck no, but I ain't got time not to be alright. Let's move this piece of shit out of the way and get going." Chris said.

The memory of that car and those three people inside of it ate at him. He did what he had to do, and he knew that, but it didn't change the fact that those people had been trying to get their kid someplace safe… They had tried to do right and in the end they had died on a god forbidden stretch of road.

"Sweetheart… You okay?" Trina asked as she raised up from the bed.

He turned around and noticed the sheets covering her. He nodded and tried to smile, but they both knew that if he did it would be false.

"Do you want me to fix some ramen and spam? I think that we have enough propane to get breakfast for everyone." She said as she slipped out from under the sheets and quickly pulled on a teeshirt and jogging pants.

"If you want to babe. I'm going to get outside and start getting everyone ready to head out." Chris said as he opened the door to the trailer and then closed it making sure that it latched.

He looked around and let his eyes get use to the dim light of early morning. He made his way toward the tent set up close to the trailer and knelt down near the side he guessed that Tony was on.

"Tony man we need to get ready to head out." He said trying to remain as quiet as possible.

"In a few minutes." Was the reply and Chris looked at the silhouettes in the tent.

He realized at that moment that Criese and Tony was in the middle of making love and decided to walk toward the RV and wake up his dad. Chris knocked on the door and waited for a moment before he opened it and looked inside. He saw his dad laying back on the bed with a picture of his mom beside him.

"Dad we need to start moving out." Chris said as he climbed in.

"That time already huh?" his dad asked as he rose up.

"I'm afraid so. The sooner we get on the road the less chance of those things crowding in on us. Trina's making some breakfast so we can eat before we leave, but we need to make sure that we have everything put away." Chris said.

"The hose isn't going to hold a whole lot longer son. We really need to stop and get a long piece of rubber hose and some clamps. I'm starting to run out of Duct tape and to be honest I don't think that it is holding nearly good enough." His dad said as he looked at Chris.

"It's only a matter of time until we reach another Wal-Mart or an Autozone. If it's a Wal-Mart we might be able to clear out the Tire, Lube, Express if it has one and do it in there. The door into the store is usually locked, and if it isn't then we can secure it somehow. It would also be a chance to look for some other groceries for the road." Chris said before he stepped out.

Within the next few minutes everyone began gathering around the travel trailer as Trina dished out the ramen noodles and spam. Criese ate her plate and then she helped Tony with the spam since he didn't really care for it. She looked back at Trina and the two girls walked into the trailer and a few minutes later Criese walked out with a can of 'raw' spam eating away at it.

"Everyone we've got to stop either at a Wal-Mart, Autozone or truck stop when we get to one. The RV needs a rubber hose to fix the fuel line and from what dad said we don't have much other choice. When we get there Criese stay in Tony's car. We might need you to get close if you can. Trina keep the truck ready to leave." Chris said as they each got into the respective vehicles.

The next two hours saw nothing but lonely road and abandoned cars. Chris looked for any sign of a store, truck stop, or even a hole in the wall garage. Finally on the horizon he could see the outline of a canapé that overhung on gas pumps. They began to slow down and he looked at a large truck stop with a grocery store and tire shop in it.

"Alright this looks like it is the best we can do at the moment. Dad how's your gas?" Chris asked.

"I'm down to an eight of a tank. The damned line is leaking again." His dad said.

"Alright pull in and we'll see if there is some rubber hose and line in the tire shop. We'll also check out the grocery store and see if there is something that we can take with us. I'm going to see if we can find Tony a CB in there for his car. If we're lucky then they'll have everything we need." Chris said as they pulled close to the truck stop and slowly he and Tony made their way toward the building.

Chris walked carefully and the first thing he noticed was several bloody footprints. He stopped and looked at the door. He pressed his finger to his lips and slowly opened the door. Once inside he looked at the collection of dead bodies lying around the counter. There had been a fire fight and someone had killed a whole horde of those things. He looked over the counter and saw a body with the top of its head missing. On its arm was a large bite mark and from the looks of it he had placed the riot gun he used to stop the horde under his chin and pulled the trigger.

Chris looked at the gun and made sure that nothing else was back there with it and slowly pulled on it until he brought it up and ejected the shell. He looked at Tony who nodded and the two of them walked toward the tire shop. Chris opened the door and could see tools, tires, other odds and ends strung around like someone had quickly grabbed what they needed and got out. He looked through a couple of tool chests and finally found two clamps. They looked to be a little different, but at least they might work.

"Chris… I think I found some hose." Tony said as he walked back toward his friend holding about six foot of rubber hose. It looked a little brittle, but for the moment it looked about the best that they could do. Nodding they both walked back through the truck stop and Chris held his hand up and began opening the counters. Tony watched as he pulled out a box and an antenna.

"At least we should be able to let you listen in or talk to us while we're moving." Chris said before he looked ahead at the grocery store. They walked toward it and heard something moving.

Chris opened the door and looked at the situation before him. There was a group of men surrounding a girl. There was a gag in her mouth and from the looks of things they had most likely kept her here for days. Chris pointed the riot gun toward the ceiling and pulled the trigger letting the loud sound of the twelve gauge stop them from continuing to violate the girl.

"Who the fuck are you?" one of them asked as he turned toward Chris.

The only thing that came to Chris' mind was the old line from Army of Darkness.

"Name's Ash, I work Housewares." He said as he leveled out the twelve gauge at them.

"There's three of us mister. Not to mention this little piece of ass here. You'll most likely kill us if you shoot, but you certainly going to kill this sweet little thing." The one that was holding the girl said.

"Let her go and there doesn't have to be any bloodshed." Chris said

"You're wrong about that." The one the furtherest from the others said as he pulled his pistol.

Chris heard something and ducked as Tony fired the thirty – thirty hitting the man square in the chest. He stood back up as the other two men looked hard at them both.

"You killed Cletus! You mother fuckers killed my little brother!" The one holding the girl shouted as he pushed her away and brought up a double barrel.

Chris had already ejected the other shell and pulled the trigger on the riot gun. Being as far as he was from the still living brother the force of the shot knocked him back and sent some of the buckshot into him. He wheezed and tried to aim toward Chris but instead the gun went off missing both Chris and Tony and instead hit a huge tub of Peanut Oil. The last man dropped his gun and looked at the other two.

"Look man… I was just hanging with them alright. I mean we weren't going to kill the girl, just fuck 'er for a while. It seemed fair… I mean we was keepin' 'er safe!" He tried to explain as he backed up.

"Please… Please don't kill me! Please God Please Don't kill ME!" The man said as he dropped to his knees.

He turned and saw the girl standing with Cletus' gun in her hands. She pulled the trigger and shot him in the face. The effect was that his eyes and part of his nose disappeared in a shower of blood and gore.

The girl dropped to her knees and began to sob through the gag. Chris walked toward her and showed that he wasn't armed. He knelt down near her. He looked at the gag and untied it.

"We're not going to hurt you." He said as he looked at her.

"Mama, daddy… They killed my parents a couple of days ago… That one you shot… He did to my mama what his brother was doin' to me… He shot her after… I… I wanna go home…" The girl cried as she leaned forward and Chris took her into his arms.

"It's going to be alright… My name's Chris." He said as he tried to give her some sense of normality.

"Anna. My name is Anna Webbly." Anna said.

"Alright Anna Webbly we're going to be getting out of here do you want to come with us? I don't think that it would be safe to stay around here." Chris said.

"O…okay." Anna said as she tearfully looked at Chris.

Slowly Chris helped her up and helped her walk. He noticed that she was bleeding and in that moment he felt absolutely no remorse for the three assholes laying in the grocery store. Tony walked over after going back into the truck stop and looked at Chris as he handed him a jacket.

"Here you go lets get you covered up." Chris said as he pulled the jacket over Anna's shoulders.

Tony looked at Chris as they carried the stuff they had gotten toward the cars.

"Dude… Was they? I mean really was they raping her? She can't be more than fifteen! That's so fucked up!" Tony said.

"People are sick." Chris said after they got to the travel trailer. Trina looked at the girl and helped her inside.

Anna was almost comatose. She barely would look at anyone or answer when they talked to her. She seemed ready to answer Chris, but everyone else she shied away from. Chris looked at Trina who nodded and looked at Anna.

"Do you want a shower?" Trina asked.

The girl looked at her and nodded.

"Alright we have one in the trailer let me walk you back to it. It's not much, but it should help." Trina said as she lead Anna toward the shower and a few minutes later everyone could hear the water running.

Trina stepped back out and looked at Chris.

"She's showing signs of detachment. It's really bad hun. I don't know what happened in there, but she's been scarred for life." Trina said.

"I'll tell you all about it later. Tony and I are going to get some of the groceries we saw at least as much as we can. I saw some gas cans and we'll fill up a couple of five gallon ones and carry them back to the RV, but we can't stay around for too long." Chris said as he stood up and began to walk out the door.

After about twenty minutes they had carried six or seven bags of groceries apiece and two five gallon jugs apiece back toward the group. Chris used the jugs to fill up the RV and then he poured the remainder in Tony's car and in his truck. The moment he stepped into the Travel Trailer he was greeted by Trina and by Anna. The girl looked better dressed and cleaned. She did something that Chris wasn't sure of when she caught him in a hug.

"Please… Please don't leave again." Anna said as she held on to him.

"She's been going on about you since she got out of the shower." Trina said as she smiled at the younger girl.

"Alright. Anna We've got to take off. It would be better if you ride with one of us or if you want you can sleep in here." Chris said.

"Can… Can I ride with you?" She said as she looked at the ground.

"Sure." Chris answered as they got out of the trailer and climbed into the truck. Anna was a little upset that she had to ride on the small bench seat behind the main seat of the truck, but as they drove she looked out the window. Chris could tell that the girl was trying to deal with what happened o her. He didn't know what he could do to help, but Trina had volunteered at help in crisis and several other programs for her degree. He knew that she was the closest thing to a councilor at the moment.

"How far out are we from the prison?" Came his dad's voice over the CB radio.

"At least a week maybe more at the rate we have to stop and push cars out of the way." Chris answered back.


	5. Detour

_**AN: This Side or the Other: Thanks for the reviews. I won't lie getting them is part of what helps me keep writing. That and the desire to see something get finished.**_

_**Ozsanlol: Thanks for the reviews to, and I am also glad that Chris and Tony was there as well, although I will tell you that it isn't going to be a bed of roses. **_

_**Living in the land of the Dead**_

_**Chapter 5 (Unexpected Detour)**_

__By the next day they had managed to get within two hundred miles of the prison, but at the same time it also meant that there was still a lot of ground to cover. When they stopped again Anna was a little more involved with everyone, but she would also look off into space. Chris knew that the trauma she had suffered was more than likely to blame, but he didn't know what to do for the girl. She would talk to everyone, but she was still very reserved and seemed distrusting toward most of the group. She seemed to trust Chris and Trina, but when it came down to it she wanted to sit close to Chris.

Chris looked at the small spread of food before them. The meat was still spam, but at least there was some green beans and corn. Trina looked at him and then motioned toward the trailer. He walked with her and she leaned against it.

"We're almost out of propane. I know that we're heading toward the prison, but Chris we might still need some more. I don't know how many places around here ran on Propane or how many ran on natural gas, but we need to get some and quick." Trina said before she looked toward the young blond girl they had picked up.

"I'm worried about her. She really needs to see a professional councilor Chris. As she is it's likely that she will barely be able to trust again. Not to mention that if anything happens to either of us it might cause even more trauma." Trina said as she watched Anna eating and looking out toward the field behind them.

"If there is anyone left like that then we'll try to get her some help, but I honestly don't know if anyone is still alive that would classify as a professional councilor or not. Chances are that you are the closest thing to a professional she is going to get for a long time." Chris replied.

Trina nodded. Like Chris she began to understand more and more each day that there was no help coming. She watched her husband as he walked to the truck and began to check the fluids in it. There was a time she would get angry for him watching those old horror movies. She would be upset that he would turn on Romaro's movies and seem to soak in everything that happened. He would pick up literature like that Zombie apocalypse survival guide thing, but now she was glad that he watched all of it. She was glad because it meant that he at the very least had an idea of what they needed to do. She walked toward the truck and watched as he grimaced a little bit.

"Oil's getting black. It won't be long until I need to change it. There wasn't much at that truckstop. Maybe the prison will have the oil and filter I need." He said as he closed the hood.

He turned and looked at the group as they all finished their meals.

"Everyone we need to head out. Get packed up and let's get to moving." Chris said.

In about thirty minutes the group finally started to move down the back road slowly. Chris had to admit that Tony's GPS he had in his car was handy since it would allow him to look up back roads toward their destination. Finally it came to a section that they had to cross over a bridge that was fairly well used and Chris looked out his truck and groaned. He stopped and lifted the mike to his CB.

"Guys… We can't go this way." He said as he looked at the ruined bridge.

He got out and walked toward the twisted wreckage that was once the support beams. He wasn't a military man, but the times of playing 'call to duty', 'metal of honor', and even 'halo' was enough to tell him that the bridge had been blown. He looked across the large canyon and could see an abandoned group of army vehicles sitting on the other end.

"Is there another way around?" Tony asked as he stepped out of his car.

"I was hoping that your box would know one." Chris said as he looked back at Tony.

"There's another way. His little gaget doesn't know it because the bridge has been closed for about ten years. Like it or not it is more than likely going to be the only chance we have of getting around." Chris' Dad said.

"Are you talking about 'Hangman's Bridge'? Shit that thing's been falling apart forever… Will it hold up?" Chris asked.

"I don't know son, but we can't be choosers right now. It's another six miles down the old road. Although… I think that it might be too rough for that little car. The last time I was down it very far I had to take his old truck and it was still pretty rough then." Chris' dad said.

"Shit… Look how about I follow in the car and if it gets to where I can't drive then I'll tell you guys and we'll hitch a ride with one of you." Tony suggested.

"Tony I know how you feel, but it might be better just to leave the car. Look get the stuff you need and we'll load it into the trailer. You and Criese can either ride in the truck or in the trailer and we can keep moving." Chris suggested.

"Man I can't leave my car. Look I know it doesn't make sense, but it's mine. I mean I've bought it, paid for it, I own the car and I don't want to lose it." Tony said.

"Baby… Please I don't want to get stranded out there." Criese said as she looked at him.

Tony closed his eyes and cursed lightly. He got out of the car and popped the trunk. After he did he began carrying their tent and some of the canned stuff they had gotten at the Wal-Mart and the truck stop grocery toward the trailer. He walked back by Chris and looked at him.

"It's a bad idea to leave us with one less car man. We might need that car. We might end up having to use it to get the fuck out of dodge pretty damn quick and it won't be there." Tony said.

"If that road is bad like my dad says it is then we won't have it anyway. It'll be ruined." Chris said as he looked at Tony.

His friend nodded and then they went to getting the gas out of the car along with pulling the battery and stripping everything else that they could use off of it. Tony looked at the car after a few minutes and then looked up toward the heavens.

"Finally paid it off. Worked the same damned job for six years, put in overtime, and paid off my first car… Son of a bitching, mother fucking, end of the world, zombie bullshit!" Tony yelled before he walked to the travel trailer and climbed into it with Criese.

"He'll be alright." Chris' dad said as he watched Tony climb into the trailer.

They started to drive down the old road and Chris noticed how over grown and unused it looked. He smiled thinking about the chance that they might not even have to worry about pushing a car or truck out of the way when he saw something move. It was a little further up the road and out of the distance of his truck lights. He put on the high beams and saw a man standing next to an old '55 model ford truck holding a shotgun. Started to push on through when the man lifted something to his mouth and his voice came over the CB.

"Boy I suggest that you slow down and stop. See you might get past me, hell you might even kill me, but I will cripple that old truck of yours and then you won't be going anywhere." The man said over the radio. Chris stopped and grabbed the riot gun. He stepped up and held it up.

"Yeah I see you're armed." The man said.

Slowly Trina climbed out with the forty – five pistol. The man looked at the two of them and then at the RV behind them. He scratched his chin and smiled a little showing where he was missing some teeth.

"Well… This is interesting. See I figured that you was like the other folks. Maybe had one gun between you, more than likely too scared to use it, but I can see it in your eyes. You've killed before. Bet that you would do it again too. So we got ourselves a problem here." The man said as two boys and a middle aged woman stepped out.

"We can shoot each other, but then that leaves our families to clean up the mess. Well that is if they survive, or we can do a little business. I'm betting that you need old 'Hangman's Bridge', and that's fine I don't care if you use it or not, but I got a starving family here. Not to say that you're fat or anything Mister, but you don't look like you've missed too many meals. If'n you give us a little bit to eat then we don't have to fight. If we don't fight then no one has to clean up any mess." The man says.

"I wouldn't let anyone starve anyway." Chris said as he reached in honked his horn.

Tony stepped out and saw the situation. He was carrying the double barrel that Chris had bought about almost two months earlier at Wal-Mart and looked at the situation.

"Tony get these folks a couple of sacks worth of food. They are needing it pretty bad." Chris said.

"Could you spare some gas?" The man asked.

"Sorry, we need what we got of that. Not a whole lot of gas stations left open." Chris said with a smile.

"You're right about that. It's just kind of hard being stuck without a place to go." The man said as he lowered his gun.

"What's your name?" Chris asked.

"Darrel Robins from Kansas City M.O. I was down here visiting family, and well… we've been on an extended camping trip since. In fact this isn't even my truck and that isn't my travel trailer. It belonged to my in laws. They didn't want to leave their home so they told us to take the truck and trailer and they kept my caddy." Darrel said as he walked toward Chris and shook his hand.

"Thanks for not freaking out like a lot of white fella's do." Darrel said.

"Good people are good people man. Doesn't matter about anything else. All you're doing is trying to feed your family." Chris replied as he looked at them.

"Yeah… but I'm running out of options here. I mean I've been hunting a little bit, but I don't know jack about it. Hell I sell T.V.s at Best Buy I've never hunted a day in my life before." Darrel said.

"Look man we're heading toward McAlester state prison. It should be secure, and from what I know about there should be a large supply of canned goods there. There isn't a whole lot of other options anyway." Chris said.

"Yeah… I learned that the first night we tried to get to one of those rescue stations. We barely got out alive and with the truck and trailer. After that we just started hitting back roads. I wouldn't even know about the bridge except that my wife grew up coming down through here. That old Bridge doesn't look like it's in good shape though. Do you think that it would hold our stuff?" Darrel asked.

"We don't have a whole lot of options. Man I don't mean to ask, but why are you missing teeth if you work at Best Buy?" Chris asked.

"I played College ball. I actually almost made it into the NFL, but I tore up my knee. I lost some teeth playing and you're right working at Best Buy I have to smile." Darrel said as he pulled out a small case and slipped in a partial set of false teeth.

Chris let out a laugh and shook his head.

"It's getting late… We might set up camp here tonight. But let's get you connected to your trailer so that we can head out in the morning." Chris said as he looked at Darrel.

"You're serious? You mean that you wouldn't leave us here after we made it look like we was going to rob you?" Darrel asked.

"Would you leave someone out in this with kids?" Chris asked.

"No… no I wouldn't." Darrel answered as he walked over to his old truck and started it.

That night they sat together talking for a while before Darrel's wife noticed how withdrawn Anna was. Finally she made her way over to Trina and motioned toward the young girl.

"Your 'daughter' looks really traumatized." She said.

"She is, but she isn't our daughter. Chris… He and Tony found her in a truck stop we checked out earlier. Three rednecks had raped her and it looked like they was getting ready to again before they stopped them. From what she told us those guys had killed her family earlier. She's barely gotten out of our sight since that happened." Trina said.

"She's imprinted your husband then." Darrel's wife said before she looked at Trina and saw the surprised expression.

"I know I'm dressed like a hick, but trust me I know. I was about sixteen hours away from being a doctor. I was already a licensed councilor before I decided to take off of school and take care of my babies. I've never regretted it, but I wish that I knew some more for instances like these." She said.

"I know what you mean. I was going for a degree in Psychology and a minor in social work. Chris was going for an English Major and a minor in art. He actually had a book submitted to an agent and finally got word back that they was going to go ahead and submit it to a few publishing houses and see what happened." Trina said.

The older woman nodded and then she stuck out her hand. Trina shook it and looked at the older woman.

"My name is Claudia. Those two toeheads are Barnard, and Timothy. They are going to tell you to call them B and Big T. Just call them Barnard and Timothy. I don't want them to forget their real names." Claudia said.

"Thanks… I'm Trina, You know Chris, That guy sitting next to him is Tony, the girl next to Tony is Cirese, and that older gentleman talking to your husband is my father – in – law Thomas." Trina said.

"It's a pleasure." Claudia said as they talked a little longer.

When the morning finally arrived Chris awoke to feel Trina curled up beside him. He got up and looked to see Anna looking at him from the bunk over their bed. The young girl blinked and almost smiled before she crawled back into her bed.

"Sweetheart I'm going to tell everyone that we need to get on our way." Chris said as he stepped out and looked to see Darrel taking down some cans connected to string.

"Morning Neighbor." Darrel said as he looked at Chris.

"Morning. You ready to head out?" Chris asked.

"Yeah should be in a few minutes." Darrel said as he finished getting everything together.

"Yo, that fine thang your daughter?" one of the boys asked.

"You could say that." Chris said.

"Cool, cool. Cause if we gonna be traveling together then you might end up being like my pops." The boy said as he turned around and walked back toward his trailer.

After a few minutes and getting everyone around the group began to move again. They made their way toward the bridge and Chris looked at the condiction of the old bridge. He got out and took down the signs saying no crossing and walked back to his truck. He looked at his wife and she shook her head showing that she wasn't getting out. He nodded and began to cross it.

The sounds of the bridge creaking and groaning could be heard as he began to cross it. He could hear something under it fall and splash into the water and prayed that they would make it over. Slowly they crossed the bridge and Chris pulled over to the side after they crossed. He watched to see Darrel coming across and it seemed to be doing the same under his old truck and travel trailer. Finally his dad came across, but the old man wasn't going slow. He raced his RV across and no sooner had he crossed then a loud groaning sound came from the bridge. They watched as it began to pop and finally chunks of it fell from bottom side of it.

"We can't go back that way." Thomas said as he shook his head.

"That why you raced across?" Chris asked.

"Had to. If I pussy footed around like you two did then I might not have made it across." Thomas said before he climbed back into the RV.

After a few miles Chris stopped and looked at the road signs. They had finally gotten off of the old road which ran for a surprisingly long ways and was back to the back roads and freeways. From what he could tell it was going to be pretty soon before they reached the prison.

Once again they had to stop and move cars out of the way, and then begin the trek of reaching some form of safety. When they finally got within view of the Prison Chris looked at it and could see the gates open.

"Oh god…" Trina said as she looked at the court yard.

"It's a few, but we figured that would happen. We can get in, close the gates, and kill those off pretty quick. After that it's only a matter of cleaning up the inside." Chris said as they began moving toward the prison.

The Prison was designed to have one set of gates in, and one set out. Once inside you could drive to the different sections of the prison, but keeping it down to one gate made it far less likely that anyone would escape. They pulled through and quickly Chris, Tony, Thomas, Darrel, and Barnard closed the gates and looked at the collection of those things in there.

"Well… We better get to doing this." Chris said as he held his small sledge hammer and looked at the others.

Nodding they agreed and soon they began making their way through the court yard killing off those things. When they stopped and it looked like they had killed them all they began to count.

"God good… We killed about a hundred of those things." Darrel said as he looked at the bodies.

"Yeah… It would be best to burn them as soon as possible." Chris said as he looked at the bodies.

"We should stay out here tonight. We got them all, and with the gate closed no more are going to get in. Tomorrow we can start going through the buildings and clearing them out." Thomas said before he started to head toward his RV.


	6. A Stormy Port

_**AN: This Side or the Other: Yeah Tony was upset about his car, but then what guy wouldn't be upset about it. Besides it might have been the last piece of normality he had left.**_

_**Ozsanlol: Anna is doing better for the moment, but then Well I don't want to ruin things. Alright here is the newest chapter.**_

_**Living in the land of the Dead**_

_**Chapter 6 (A Stormy Port)**_

__The night inside of the fence was the first night any of them had almost no trouble sleeping since before the world began to turn into a Romero movie. Trina woke up seeing that Chris was still asleep. She smiled knowing that he was exhausted. He had been the one keeping them together, keeping them moving, and keeping them alive. For the moment it appeared that he might have actually saved them, or at least given them a chance at a better life. She slowly crawled over him and stood up in the travel trailer. She looked around at the small area and knew that while she would miss some parts of it, she would be glad to have a regular living space again.

"Is he alright?" came the small voice of Anna as she looked over her bed at Chris as he lay sleeping.

"Yes, he's just tired." Trina said as she walked back toward the closet and grabbed a robe. While she was dressed she didn't know how cold it might be outside.

She walked toward the door and slowly opened it to see no one outside moving. The nippy cold air woke her husband as he sat up and looked around for a moment and then breathed in a couple of times. Slowly he stood up and slipped on his shoes.

"Morning." He said as he walked behind Trina and pulled her into an embrace.

"Morning yourself stranger." She joked before she looked at him, "You've got to start checking out the buildings today huh?" She asked.

"We need to. We need to clear them out if they are full of those things and then we need to clean them up." Chris said as he looked at her.

"I know, but please be careful. I don't want to lose you." She said as she lay her head against his chest.

"I always try to be." Chris said as he smiled.

Within a few minutes the others was up and awake. They ate a bite and they began to walk toward the prison. Chris held the thirty – thirty, Tony had the double barrel shot gun Chris had bought, Thomas carried the riot gun they had found, and Darrel held the old double barrel he had. Chris opened the doors to the prison and Thomas shined the light he had and they began to slowly walk through.

For the first fifteen minutes there was no sign of anyone inside. Chris began to wonder if his dad was right and the state shipped the prisoners out of here when the sound of shuffling feet could be heard. They looked ahead and there was a man dressed in prison blues half of his lower jaw missing. He made a few gurgling sounds and moved toward them. Chris fired the thirty – thirty and blasted the thing in the head. The sound afterward was fairly different. They began to hear moans and the sounds of more feet shuffling. Nodding to each other they walked further into the prison and the sounds of the guns blasting could be heard outside.

Claudia worked near Trina as the two prepared lunch. Like the younger woman next to her Claudia didn't want to think about the danger the men faced inside. The idea of losing Darrel was real, but it was no less or more real than the fact that the young girl beside her could also lose her husband, or her father in law. Claudia looked up when she heard someone complaining and she saw Barnard complaining that he didn't get to go in and help.

"You stop sounding like a fool right this minute." Claudia said as she looked at her son.

"Moms they need the help. I can shoot, so can Big T." Barnard said.

"First they only thing either of you have ever shot was in video games, and second if you think that I am going to let you go inside while there are guns going off you are crazy. Your father knows what he's doing and he's with men who have experience. So you stop that foolish thinking right now." Claudia said.

"Don't be talking to me like I'm still a little boy. I'm a man. I'm sixteen years old moms. I'm old enough to do anything that they are doing." Barnard said.

"Old enough huh? Are you old enough to care for baby? Are you old enough to make sure that they are fed at night even when you go to bed hungry? Are you old enough to put everything else second so that they have a chance?" Claudia asked.

She watched Barnard grow quiet.

"I didn't think so. So until you are then no, you 'ain't' old enough for anything other than being a little boy. So be a good little boy and watch your brother." Claudia said as she watched him gripe and walk off toward where his brother was at.

"I remember my mom giving me a similar speech." Trina said as she looked at the corn bread they was making. She had never cooked it on an open fire before, but since they had a fire place cooking stand she thought it was time to try it.

Claudia smiled and looked toward the two boys.

"Most mothers are the same. We want what is best for our babies, but they have to know sometimes that they are still young and don't realize what kind of world we're in. Even if it was the way things was before I would still let him know that he's not ready. After all him being so full of himself is going end up causing someone to get killed if they thrust responsibility into his hands too soon." Claudia said before she turned back to the beans she was cooking.

Criese made her way over to them and brought over a few cans of sweet peas. She emptied the cans into a small pot and placed it on the stand.

"So I get to look forward to that?" Criese asked.

"Depends on if you have a boy or a girl, but yes the chances are you will get to argue with them. They are going to swear that they know better, and if you know what is good for you and them you'll put them in their place as soon as you can. Don't run down every thought they have, but let them know that you are their mother and your word is say so." Claudia said as grabbed a salt container and added a little to the beans.

Trina turned as she felt someone near her and looked to see Anna. The young girl was watching the two boys, but she didn't try to go near them. She didn't act like she hated them, but instead she almost seemed ready to fight if need be. Trina looked at the girl and knelt down to look her in the face.

"Are you alright?" She asked Anna.

"Yes." Anna said not giving any other reason for staying away from the two boys.

"Would you like to help us?" Claudia asked as she looked at the girl.

Anna looked at the older woman and after a few minutes she nodded. Claudia began to show her how to mix some of the spam into the beans when a shotgun blast got their attention.

Thomas leaned against a wall as he looked at the last one of those things. They had just made it into the cafeteria and several of those things began to make their way toward all of them. He blasted the undead creatures sending them on to be sorted out by the maker when one had almost taken a bite out of his leg. He was surprised by the sound of the blast like everyone else was and had almost passed out when Darrel blew the things head off.

"Damn…" Darrel said as he reloaded his double barrel.

He looked toward the kitchen when he heard something moving. The three of them made their way toward it when they noticed that the door was locked with a set of handcuffs. Thomas cocked the riot gun and shot the cuff on the wall and the door opened lightly. They walked inside and there was a man standing there near the stove. He turned and looked at the four men standing there.

"You guys want some stew?" The man asked.

"Sure, are you the only one alive in here?" Chris asked.

"No, Nadine is in the cupboard getting some mixed vegetables." He said as he looked at them and the guns.

"You guys aren't rescue are you?" The man asked.

"No… Who are you?" Chris asked.

"My name is Tyrone Jennins. I'm a Lieutenant in the Hell's Angels Los Angeles chapter. I was caught up here about six years ago helping our Oklahoma brothers take care of some business. I went in." Tyrone said.

A few minutes later a fairly attractive woman walked out with a couple of cans. She looked at the other guys there and then at Tyrone.

"Guests?" She asked.

"Looks that way babydoll." He said before she turned toward him and kissed his neck.

"She's my old lady. She was up here visiting me and when things went to hell I helped her get in. We've been waiting for a rescue." Tyrone said.

"there's not one coming. The rescue stations, outposts and pretty much everything has been over run. We've been on the move for the last few weeks to be honest." Chris said.

"Not to be celebrating or cutting in on this touching moment, but are there any more of your fellow inmates that might be around?" Thomas asked.

"Naw… See about a month ago things started getting bad. The warden had shot himself already and it was guards that was running things. It got down to six of them since most of the others had already headed out to see their families. The last dipshit that left didn't close the gate and those things roamed in. So the guards started trying to move us to sector B since it was more secure. In the move several of the prisoners decided to get the hell out of dodge. Seeing that the remaining guards knew that the only way we was going to stand a chance was to work together. Well those fuckers sent Nadine and me in here to get some food and then they chained the door shut. My guess is that they took off not long after." Tyrone said.

"there is a good chance that they are dead." Thomas said as he hitched his thumb back outside.

"Serves the fuckers right." Nadine said as she spat in the direction of the dead.

"So what are you doing exactly?" Tyrone asked as they walked out of the Kitchen with the stew.

"We've been looking for somewhere safe. At first we thought about Fort Gibson." Tony said.

"The old civil war fort? I can already tell you that some red necks have control of it." Nadine said as she looked at them.

"How do you know?" Tony asked.

"A couple of good old boys that was part of the Aryan Brotherhood talked about the fort. They made off out of here with a prison bus and took a lot of their asshole friends. That place is going to be hell for anyone going there." Nadine said as she shook her head.

"Glad we didn't go." Chris said.

"Especially if you got women. Those assholes tried to rape Nadine when I got her on the inside. I fucked a couple of them up and they started their shit about nigga lover this and nigga lover that. Fuck she's my woman. That's it plain in simple. Those fuckers ain't touching her." Tyrone said as he pulled Nadine into a tight embrace.

The ebony beauty smiled and kissed her grungy biker boyfriend.

"And that's why I love you. All of that caveman charm." Nadine said with a little laugh.

Darrel noticed the flickering lights and then looked at Tyrone.

"This place has its own generator, but… It's in the medical building and I don't know how bad things are over there." Tyrone said.


	7. Not With a Bang, But a Whisper

_**AN: This Side or the Other: That's part of Claudia's idea. She wants to include Anna in things so that the girl can heal in a sense. **_

_**Living in the land of the Dead**_

_**Chapter 7 (Not With a Bang, But a Whisper)**_

__The first few days of being in the prison was fairly what everyone expected. There was a lot of cleaning, moving, and choosing some cells close to each other. Thomas suggested that before anyone went to choosing cells further out we look to staying close that way everyone could be alerted and ready if something happened. The older man looked at the collection of people as he headed into his cell. It had been a hell of a time getting here, but at least the worst of it was over. Everyone made sure that the gate was not only closed, but secured and locked. Thomas had brought in his CB radio since it ran on both AC and DC current. For the last few days all he had gotten over the radio was static and he was ready to turn it off when he heard a click.

"Is there anyone on this frequency? I am on channel twelve." Thomas said.

For a moment there was nothing and then a voice came over the radio.

"Oh Thank GOD! My name is Jennifer Connelly, and I've been trying to reach someone for the last three days! I have no food, water is low, and with the exception of the Dorm I'm in most of the college I'm at has been overrun!" Jennifer's British accented voice said over the radio.

"College… Are you in that Eastern Oklahoma State college?" Thomas asked.

"Yes… Please… Please tell me that you can come and get us!" Jennifer said her voice full of worry and frustration.

"We'll do everything we can. It might take us at least a day or two to get there. The roads aren't clear and we have to clear them ourselves. Can you walk, is there anyone who is disabled?" Thomas asked.

"Debbie is… She's crippled. It happened when those things started to overrun the campus. Her boyfriend Scott pulled her out from the bookshelves that fell on her, but… he… God Mr. he was bit right after." Jennifer said as her voice started shaking.

"It will be alright. We will try to get to you, but stay safe and we'll do everything we can to get you all out of there." Thomas replied.

"Okay…" Jennifer said.

Thomas stood and looked at the CB radio. He had never expected to hear from anyone else. He walked out of his cell and looked at his son Chris as the younger man showed Anna the finer points of self defense with a limited range weapon. The girl was listening and taking in everything that Chris was showing her. She turned to see Thomas standing there.

"Dad what's going on?" Chris asked.

After Thomas had told Chris everything he knew the two of them explained to the group. The others listened and once it was finished Claudia and Trina both let Chris and Thomas know what they thought about it.

"I feel for them, I really do, but can we afford to weaken ourselves? I mean we could lose whoever goes out there." Trina said as she looked at her husband.

"That's one reason why I'm going. I don't feel right having anyone else go instead." Chris said.

"I'll go with him. Hell I have combat training." Thomas said as he looked at his son.

"Yeah, but dad your combat training was over forty years ago." Trina stated.

"It doesn't matter you never forget what you was taught. Believe it doesn't leave." Thomas said as he looked at the other two men.

"Chris man… I'm sorry. With Criese pregnant I can't. I can't take the risk of not being here for my baby." Tony said.

"I understand Tony. It's alright." Chris said.

"I'll go. It wouldn't be right for just the two of you to head out there by yourselves." Darrel said as he looked at them.

"It'll be a nice chance to stretch my legs." Tyrone said with a smirk.

"Well we need to think about what we are going to be using to get out of here." Thomas said as they walked outside.

"There should be something in the garage." Tyrone offered.

They three of them headed across the court yard and approached a seven door garage that looked huge from the outside. Tyrone walked up the rolling doors and looked at the other two. He tugged and nothing happened. Smiling he turned around toward them.

"Good it means that the garage was locked down like it was suppose to be. I doubt if we have any inside waiting on us." Tyrone said as they walked toward the office and Tyrone used the meat tenderizer he had found in the kitchen to smash open the small glass on the door.

The moment they stepped inside the smell of grease and oil hit their noses. Tyrone walked over toward a large cabinet and opened it showing three sets of keys. He tossed one of the sets toward Thomas and the older man caught it.

"That's the second bus. It's in pretty good shape, but not exactly the best. Should get us to where we need to go though." Tyrone said.

They walked into the main part of the garage and the bus Tyrone suggested sat at the darker end. Thomas held the riot gun and walked near Chris who had brought the pistol. Darrel who had came with them held his old double barrel and tried not to make a sound.

Since they didn't hear anything Tyrone walked over to the rolling door and unlocked it. He quickly lifted it and the light came into the darker part of the garage. Even with the electricity running they had been unable to see behind the bus, and now Tyrone turned to see the garage supervisor standing with a rat in his hands. The undead creature looked at Tyrone with a confused look and then moved toward him.

"Son of a bitch!" Tyrone shouted as he slammed his meat cleaver across the former shop supervisor's face.

Chunks of dead flesh and blood sprayed off where Tyrone had hit the supervisor. It turned back toward him and growled before Tyrone kicked it to the ground. Suddenly the bark of the forty – five pistol silenced the zombie. Tyrone looked at Chris who held the smoking gun.

"Friend of yours?" Chris asked.

"No, some dumb shit who thought that he was high and mighty. He locked himself inside of this garage I bet and starved to death." Tyrone said as he looked around.

They both turned when the sounds of the engine turning over and catching sounded. They walked toward the bus and looked at Thomas who smirked a little.

"It's older than hell, but it should get us to where we need to go." He said.

They began rolling out and when they got to the gate Darrel looked at them.

"Guys someone is going to have to close the gate and make sure that it stays closed. We can't let any of those things that have started walking down know that we are in here." Darrel said.

"Man's got a point. If one of use tries to shut and lock it from the outside it could take too much time. We could end up getting bit." Chris said.

"Hold on for a second." Thomas said as he picked up the CB in the bus and set it channel 12.

"Tony get your ass out here and help open and close the gate." Thomas said into the radio.

A few minutes later Tony arrived and looked at the fence which had about twenty of those things outside of it.

"What… What should I do?" Tony asked.

"Lead them away for now. Try to get them to follow you down from the gate. We'll open it and close it back." Tyrone said.

Tony nodded and walked by the fence pounding on it.

"Hey you dumb fucks come on! Prime beef right here come and get it!" Tony shouted as he ran down the fence line.

The zombies began following him walking slowly toward the meal that was moving further and further away. Seeing most of them gone Tyrone unlocked the first gate and had Thomas move between the fences. He pulled the first of the gates back to and locked it. He looked at the outer gate and quickly unlocked it. Thomas pulled the bus out and Tyrone quickly shut and locked the outer gate before he ran to the door on the bus. Thomas unlocked it and Tyrone crawled into the bus.

"Alright… Lets go save some college girls." Tyrone said as they began to head off toward the college.

Tony watched as the bus disappeared and ran back toward the prison. He made it inside and saw Trina cleaning their pots and pans. He walked toward her and placed his hand on her shoulder.

"He'll be alright. If anyone knows about this zombie bullshit it's your husband." Tony said.

"Yeah he knows… and he's also too damn good of a person. He could have left those people to fend for themselves. I know that sounds selfish, but why do we have to risk everything to save them?" Trina asked.

"Because it's right, and it is just. It's what separates us from those things walking around out there." Claudia said as she moved toward them.

"you was against Darrel going." Trina pointed out.

"Of course I was and you where against your husband going. Just because it's right and just doesn't mean that we are above being petty and selfish. I want my husband. I want him flaws and all here, safe, alive, and warm. I know that's how you want yours." Claudia said.

"you girls are really too worried. Tyrone is one bad mother. He likes your men and that's why he went with them. He won't let them get hurt." Nadine said.

"I hope so." Trina said as she looked out the cell window toward the horizon that Chris had left toward.

She prayed that they would be fine and that Chris would come back to her.

As darkness began to sit the old bus finally started to make it toward the Eastern Oklahoma college. Chris could see what the Thomas had talked about. There was several of those things up and walking, but they seemed pretty stretched out. They stopped the bus a little ways from the college and crawled out. The creatures hadn't heard them or at least they didn't seem aware of their presence.

Thomas started to get out but quickly he turned on the CB and spoke into it.

"Jennifer… We're here." He said.

"Okay, We're in the women's dorm on the south side of the campus. It should be near the main admin building." She replied.

"I see the building, but we had to park a ways from it. Can most of you walk?" He asked again.

"Everyone except for Debbie." Jennifer replied.

"Alright we're going to come and help you get out. Be ready to move Debbie. Is she light at all?" Thomas asked.

"She'll weigh fifty kilos sopping wet." Jennifer said.

"Kilos?" Tyrone asked.

"About one hundred ten pounds." Chris answered.

"How do you know that?" Tyrone asked.

"College Algebra. I scored high on it because my wife found a reward system that worked." Chris said.

"Like what?" He asked.

"She would strip each time I got a right answer." Chris replied.

"I wonder if I can get Nadine to play a similar game. Alright lets go. One of us should be able to carry her back especially if she can hold on with her arms." Tyrone said as they headed toward the dorms.

They managed to stay out of sight of the things as they moved down the street. Chris looked at the building and saw a little movement toward the front doors. They moved closer and Slowly the front doors opened and a girl with red hair motioned for them to come in. They started inside and she stopped them once they got inside.

"Thanks so much for coming for us." She said in a British accent.

"Jennifer?" Thomas asked.

"Thomas? Thank you!" She said as she wrapped her arms around him and hugged for all she was worth.

"How many more are there of you?" Darrel asked.

"There's three more. Debbie, Janet, and Missy." Jennifer said and almost on que two girls stepped out from behind a door. The first to walk up to them was a bottled blond. She stuck her hand out and smiled.

"Janet." She said.

The other girl stood cautiously away from them. She finally waved, but remained out of reach of them as if they was going to attack her.

"That's Missy. She was attacked by a security guard. He was frantic and threw himself on her. We got to her before he could do anything, but she hasn't wanted to get close to any guys since then." Jennifer said.

"It's alright. I understand. Looks lets get Debbie and we'll all get out of here." Chris said.

They walked inside and sitting in a chair holding a bow and quiver of arrows was a short sandy blond girl. She had this fierce look in her eyes that seemed to say that she would have no problem putting someone in their place. Tyrone walked toward her and looked at her for a moment.

"Miss we're going to have to carry you out. That alright with you?" He asked

"I don't have a choice. Jen take my bow. You're the second best at it anyway." Debbie said as Tyrone carefully lifted her.

She groaned a little but did no other complaining. They walked toward the front of the dorms and Chris held the pistol ready.

"Alright… Lets go." He said as they stepped outside.

The sound of shuffling feet and moans came toward them and they began to head in the direction of the bus. This time however the sound grew quicker and faster. Chris turned around to see what started as a few dozen had turned into hundreds of those things. He realized really quickly that they needed in that bus and quick.

"Run as fast as you can!" He shouted. They moved with a purpose and quickly boarded the bus. Thomas began cranking the engine over and finally it caught.

The sound of it coming to life caused the sounds of the moans and shuffling feet to increase. Thomas put the bus in reverse and began backing it up cursing the backup alarm. He turned around and began heading down the road they came in on. Slowly but surely they began to leave the horde of the undead behind them.

"Well that's one problem out of the way." Thomas said.

"Yeah, but do you guys have a doctor?" Debbie asked.

"Chris has had some premed classes, but he's an English major." Thomas said.

"How far did you get in your premed classes?" Debbie asked.

"Our teacher had been a field surgeon in Vietnam. He taught us a lot more than we was suppose to learn. Why?" Chris asked.

"Because I can't use my legs… and I'm pregnant." Debbie said as looked out the window.


	8. Where Ever i may Roam

_**Living in the Land of the Dead**_

_**Chapter 8 (Where Ever I May Roam)**_

"_**And the road becomes my bride  
I have stripped of all but pride  
So in her I do confide  
And she keeps me satisfied  
Gives me all I need**_

And with dust in throat I crave  
Only knowledge will I save  
To the game you stay a slave

Rover, wanderer  
Nomad, vagabond  
Call me what you will"

The days and weeks passed after returning to the prison. Life inside actually began to take on a sense of normality. Trina had began to have a movie night every Wednesday selecting a few DVD's from the Library's limited collection. She was thoughtful enough to make sure that her selections remained with Comedies since they all had enough drama and horror in their lives already. Barnard and Timothy had tried to impress the girls from the college with little success. Claudia had watched her sons and smiled as the girls gently rejected them. She knew that both of her boys was still too immature to have any kind of relationship. All in all everyone was getting along, except for Tony.

The fact that he had stayed behind hadn't been mentioned. Tony knew that the other guys understood the reasons he had for staying behind, but the truth was he was scared. He was scared shitless and he didn't want to risk his neck again. It had been hard getting to this prison, and now that it was clear he didn't want to leave the fenced off area ever again. Slowly he began distancing himself from the guys he didn't know that well, and then he began to distance himself from Chris and Thomas. Every time he looked at them he was reminded of how much of a coward he had become. Today wasn't that different. He awoke and went to breakfast with Cirece. She visited with the other girls and let them feel her now more pronounced belly. She was bragging on the baby kicking. He knew that eventually he was going to have to face Chris again when the baby came.

"Sweetheart… What's wrong?" Cirese asked as she touched his shoulder.

"I'm… Nothing… It's nothing at all Cirese." Tony said as he stood and started to walk toward the gym they had cleared out.

"It's not nothing Tony. Tell me what's wrong." Cirese asked.

"I'm a coward. I'm a fuckin' coward that let his best friend go out into the world and face something that came from the pits of hell itself, and that's not the worst of it. Everyone thinks that I stayed because we're having a baby… I used that as an excuse… I used our baby as a shield to get out of going. Jesus, I'm no better than my dad." Tony said

"Don't you ever compare yourself to that son of a bitch again. You are a completely different person Tony. You don't use people like he did, and you don't let other people take the blame for crap that you did. You're an honest man and I love you. So get this idea that you are some worthless coward out of your head." Cirese said.

"I'll try… But honestly… I don't know if I could ever go back outside again… I mean I don't know if I could ever stand to see the outside again." Tony said.

Cirese held on to him for a moment before shouting got their attention. They ran toward the outside of the building and saw Tyrone pointing toward the fense.

"There's a chick walking around out there alive! I saw her kill sixteen of those things with a machete! She's some kind of machine man!" Tyrone said as they watched a girl get close to the gate. Chris looked at Tyrone and the both of them ran forward.

Tony watched as his best friend headed toward the gate and swallowed hard. He didn't want to go over there. He didn't want to face those things again, but there was little choice. He knew that at the least he could try to be brave inside of the prison. Running forward he helped them as they opened the gate and girl walked in dragging a 'zombie' behind her. The girl waited as they closed the gate and they looked at her 'friend'.

"ummmm Welcome, but you can't have that in here." Chris said.

"Oh yeah I forgot about my girlfriend… Natasha thanks for walking with me." She said as she lopped off the zombie's head and then turned back toward them.

"What's your name?" Tyrone asked as he looked up and down her.

"I'm Angel, and forget it breeder." She said as she confidently walked past Tyrone.

"How did you manage to walk all of the way here?" Chris asked.

"Natasha got bit by one of those things." Angel said as she slipped the hooded cloak she was wearing off.

Her ebony skin slightly glistened from the thin layer of sweat covering her body. She threw her machete into the ground and faced Chris, Tony, and Tyrone.

"After she got bit I tried to take her to Doc Jones, but the old man was already dead. So I held up in our apartment until she changed. I had watched those things and they don't mess with their own kind. So I tied her down, pulled out all of her teeth, cut off her lower jaw, cut off her arms and lead her around with that dog collar and leash. She was always kinky in life anyway. I figured that I might as well use our stuff for something constructive." Angel said as her hazel eyes moved from person to person.


	9. Family Business

_**Living in the Land of the Dead**_

_**Chapter 9 'Family Business'**_

"_**This is family business  
And this is for the family that can't be with us  
And this is for my cousin locked down, know the answer's in us"**_

"Tony… Tony… Damn it TONY!" Criese yelled as she stood up holding her stomach in severe pain.

"What's wrong?" Tony asked as he sleepily sat up.

"It's time!" Criese yelled as she stepped forward.

The next few minutes was filled with action as Tony raced down and woke up Chris. Slowly his friend, who was the only person with any kind of medical training, realized the words coming out of his mouth and followed Tony down to his room. They moved Criese as quickly as possible toward the medical building. The moment they stepped outside the cold air and bite of the winter's morning welcomed them the moment they stepped outside.

"Jesus… It's freezing out here!" Tony complained as they finally made it to the medical building and opened the door.

"Try having a kid and be cold you insensitive ASSHOLE!" Criese screamed as the pain ripped through her.

"I didn't mean anything." Tony said softly as they walked through and Chris helped Criese into a bed. He quickly ran some water and placed it on top of the old wood stove that was in the medical building.

He had heard from Tyrone that the woodstove was left there as a reminder of older times when there wasn't hot water in medical building. Of course since the entire building's hot water came from a boiler that took about three hours to heat up when it was in use it made sense to have the stove ready. Chris quickly built the fire, let the water heat and told Tony to have the water ready in a few minutes.

"Criese the pain killers they have here is pretty limited. I can offer a few things, but to be honest the best thing we can do is suffer through this." Chris stated.

"Jesus… knock me out please!" She exclaimed.

"I can't. You need to be awake to push. Speaking of which lets check." Chris said as he checked her and looked back at her.

"Well it looks like you are dilated enough. I need you to push on three. One, Two, Three now Push!" Chris said.

Criese's face scrunched up and she let out a terrible scream. Tony watched as her hands gripped the sheet on the hospital bed and again she let out a scream as she pushed.

"I need you to push Criese." Chris said.

"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK I'M DOING?" She screamed as she pushed again.

Over the course of the next three hours Criese screamed and cried as she delivered the little bundle inside of her. Finally Chris held the infant and clamped off the umbilical cord. He then cut it and took the baby. Gently he washed her with the heated water from the stove and took her tiny body over to Criese.

"Congradulations it's a girl." He said to her.

"She's beautiful…" Criese said as she looked at the little miracle in her arms.

"Any thought of a name?" Chris asked.

"Hope… Her name is Hope." Criese said as she passed her daughter over to Tony.

Chris checked her to make sure that there was no tearing and quickly cleaned everything. He looked at Tony and the two of them walked a little ways from the bed and let Criese start to go to sleep.

"We don't have everything we need here to make sure that everything is alright Tony. So I'm going keep her in the medical building for a couple of days. I want to make sure that she doesn't come down with an infection. You can and to be honest should stay in here as well. I'm going to tell Trina that way she knows." Chris said as he looked at his friend.

Chris walked outside of the medical building completely unaware of the eyes watching him. Like the others trying to make a new life inside of the prison he had no idea of the danger beyond the living dead that surrounded them. The owner of the eyes that looked through telescope grinned as he turned toward the others behind him.

"There's a group of them down there. Looks like the place is perfect for what we need. Go and tell everyone to get ready we're going to swarm on them in a week." The man said.

"Wait… John…" A woman began before the man back handed her.

"What did I tell you to call me bitch?" He asked.

"Mayor… Mayor I'm sorry." She said as she held her cheek.

"That's better. Now what was you going to say?" He asked.

"Mayor wouldn't it be a better idea to just try and talk to them? Maybe they would let us in." She suggested.

"Sure we could talk to them, but then where's the fun in that? I want to watch then scream. I want to see them beg for mercy. I want to watch them BURN." He said putting emphases on the last word.

The woman watched as John walked off. He had been so different before the world went to hell. He was a kind man, a good man, but that had changed. The moment he began to have a following of people looking for protection the man had become drunk with power. They had went through the state looting, raping, killing anyone that wouldn't join them until he felt that their numbers was high enough and then he just went to looting, raping, and killing. She didn't dare speak out of turn with him. She had watched how ruthless he had become with those that didn't follow him blindly. Men, women it didn't matter to him because each act was a show of dominance. She got up from where she had been and began telling everyone that they could expect to storm the prison in a week.


	10. God's gonna cut you down

_**Living in the Land of the Dead**_

_**Chapter 10 'God's gonna Cut you down'**_

"_**You can run on for a long time  
Run on for a long time  
Run on for a long time  
Sooner or later God'll cut you down  
Sooner or later God'll cut you down"**_

The next few days found Cirese returning to the safety of the main section of the prison. She held her infant daughter smiling as she talked baby talk to the little infant. Tony watched as the others smiled at the little wonder and found himself daring to think that things might not be so bad. He walked toward the kitchen and saw Anna helping Trina and Claudia.

"Morning" Claudia said as she gathered together a few odds and ins.

"Morning" Tony said as he yawned.

"Get use to not getting much sleep. That'll be pretty normal for the next few years." Claudia said with a knowing smirk.

"Wait… I thought that the whole keeping you awake thing only lasted about eight to twelve months." Tony said with a surprise.

"No, God no… It lasts well up until four or five years old, and even then you have to deal with nightmares." Claudia said with a laugh.

"Tony, have you see Chris?" Trina asked as she opened some canned chicken.

"He was over in the medical building earlier. Apparently he was making sure that the other girl, Debbie or Debra I think, was doing alright." Tony said.

Trina nodded and finished mixing the chicken into a pot along with some already cooked noodles, chicken broth, and cream of chicken soup. She looked at Claudia and the older woman nodded. Trina stepped away from the food and walked out heading toward the medical building. She opened the door and looked in to see Chris holding the hand held part of the Ultrasound machine and checking Debbie's unborn child's development.

"So far everything is looking normal." Chris said as he stepped back.

"Thanks so much. So… About my legs?" Debbie asked.

"I've said before that I was a premed student. I'm learning as I go here, and if it was a hundred years ago I could pass as a doctor. At best I would be an emergency medic now. You may be able to walk again, but I highly doubt it. More than likely you are going to face life in a wheelchair." Chris said as honestly, and gently as he could.

"So don't be expecting miracles." Debbie said as she moved off of the bed and into a wheel chair.

Chris turned to see Trina. He smiled and walked toward her. The two of them embraced for a moment before Trina backed up.

"I wanted to let you know that lunch is almost ready." Trina said.

"Checking up on me?" Chris asked as he laughed a little.

"I can't help it. So far the girl to boy ratio is a little on the side of you boys. I want to make sure what is mine remains mine." Trina said as she softly kissed his cheek.

"Sweetheart I would never, ever do anything to hurt what we have. You should know that." Chris said as he walked out.

Debbie took that as her que to leave and head back toward the main section of the prison. She started to open the door when the sound of gun fire caught her attention.

"What the hell?" Debbie asked as she rolled back.

Chris quickly reached over and grabbed the forty-five revolver and walked out sticking to the shadows. He heard someone walking lightly and looked to see a man holding a rifle and talking into a walkie talkie.

"Yeah, I don't see anyone yet. No, I had to use the damned gun something tried to bite me. No I don't know how many girls… Maybe eight or ten. Most of them are lookers. This place is perfect." The man said as he walked along the fence.

Chris listened and realized that there must be more people outside of the prison. The walkie talkie was one of those store brand kind that could reach about a mile or mile and a half in the wilderness. He had remembered selling several of them at Wal-Mart. Taking a little time he began to work toward the closest tower and tried to remain quiet. The moment he was on the tower he lowered a rope ladder they had constructed on each tower and climbed down. The man wasn't alerted yet and Chris moved closer to him. Finally he got close enough to the man that he hit him in the back of head hard enough to knock him out.

"Alright… Let's get your ass inside and find out what the hell is going on." Chris said as he threw the man over his shoulder. All of that time of working at Wal-Mart, carrying up to eight fifty pound bags of Dog food at a time just so he could get an end cap done on time was paying off. He began to climb and could feel the extra weight pulling on him. Finally he got up the ladder and pulled it up. He sat down for a moment and quickly zip tied the man's hands and feet together. The moment he was sure that he could handle going down Chris climbed down with their new guest.

He walked by the medical building and told both Trina and Debbie to get back into the main section of the prison. He could feel the man stirring as he walked toward the prison. Once inside he called for his dad, Tyrone, Darrel, and Tony to get over to him quick. The men ran over and he laid down the now awake and angry looking man.

"The mayor is going to fuck you all up for this." The man spat as he looked at them.

"Who in the hell is the mayor?" Chris asked.

"He's god. His word is law and if you join him he'll spare you, but he hasn't been letting anyone join for a while. Naw… He'll roll in here kill you sons of bitches, fuck your women, kill them, and then run this place." The man said as he laughed.

"Fuck… Just a matter of time I suppose." Tyrone said as he looked at them.

"What are you talking about?" Tony asked.

"Did you really expect this place to remain a secret or completely secure? Sooner or later someone was bound to find out about us. It was going to happen, and now… Now it's some psycho who wants to take it as his own. We've got two options. The first one is that we run. We load up in whatever we have and beat it out of here. Chances are they might make a move and catch some if not all of us. The second option is that we stay here and fight it out. With those towers in place we can make a pretty good stand." Tyrone said.

"He's got a point son. It's good to stay in a defendable fort. This place is about as defendable as we can get at the moment. One or two people per tower with rifles would be a help. And we can loot the riot room for rifles, bullet proof gear, and everything else we need." Thomas said.

"You won't win. There aren't nearly enough of you to win." The man said.

"Tyrone… were is solitary?" Chris asked.

"I'm way ahead of you." Tyrone said as he lifted the man.

"What the hell are you doing?" The man shouted.

"Ever shit in a bucket, or have nobody to talk to except for your own thoughts? If not then get ready for the experience of a life time." Tyrone said as he carried the man deep into the prison.

"There is no telling when they'll attack. We need to grab some gear, and get ready." Chris said as he looked at the others.


	11. Remember that i still love you

_**(AN: First let me say that I'm really, really sorry for the long wait between chapters. That said here's the latest. Hope that you enjoy.)**_

_**Living in the Land of the Dead**_

_**Chapter 11 'Don't Forget that I Still Love you'**_

'_**(Don't forget I still love you every day we're apart)  
Someone else will be kissing you but you'll still be in my heart  
Don't forget I still love you when her arms hold you tight  
Just remember that I still care though I'm not with you tonight  
When I told you I love you I promised I'd be true  
And I'll keep that promise my whole life through  
I could never forget you and how our love used to be  
Goodbye my darling and don't forget you can always come back to me' – Connie Smith**_

Five days had already passed since the capture of the invader. During that time Thomas had been going over some 'basic' training like he had received in the army. Both Thomas and Chris decided that the four towers needed to be watched at all times and they began setting up a schedule for everyone. No one was being relaxed at this point, but even with the threat of a group of people invading the prison it was obvious that there was already some complacent behavior happening in the towers. Chris considered bringing this up at the meeting tonight when he climbed up the ladder to the tower and suddenly a sharp pain ripped through his chest. He looked down to see a bloody spot forming and fell to the ground.

_Oh God… No, please no. There's so much that I haven't done… I can't leave Trina… Don't… Don't let me go out like this. _He thought as the sound of gun fire echoed through the morning air.

Tony fired the 30-30 and cocked it again. He could see what was easily three hundred people heading toward the fences. He grabbed the small two way radio he had and clicked the channel open.

"Hey! We've got company on the North Eastern side!" He said as he fired another round and quickly reloaded.

As he fired other shots began coming from the tower on the same side and he watched as several of the invading 'forces' began to fall. The others that was running toward the prison with them didn't stop to help or anything, but instead left them to die alone and in the dirt.

"Keep firing! Don't let up and maybe we can either demoralize them or at least weaken their numbers!" Thomas' voice said over the radio.

The fire fight lasted for several minutes until finally the invaders had reached the fence and was attempting to cut into it. Tyrone opened up on the closest ones with a riot gun from the armory and watched as several fell back with fatal or near fatal wounds. He quickly dodged and ducked as they began firing. He tripped and looked at the body laying beside him barely breathing.

"Oh shit! Chris, man come on… We got to get you out this shit storm." He said as he pulled Chris away from the fire fight and toward the medical building. Once inside he looked at the blood loss.

"Gonna… Gonna need a transfusion…" Chris said weakly.

"Alright man… Shit… I'll get someone in here to do it." Tyrone told him as he headed toward the door and unloaded toward the invaders again.

Although the fire fight didn't last more than about fifteen minutes it felt like it had lasted a lifetime. Outside of the fence those who hadn't been shot was slowly being surrounded by the living dead and devored. A man screamed that he was the mayor, but his voice was soon silenced by the moans of the hungry dead waiting on him.

Tyrone ran back into the medical building with Trina, Tony, Thomas, Darrel, Nadine, and Claudia. They looked at the pale and almost dead man laying on the table.

"No… Baby no don't do this to me!" Trina screamed as she ran toward him and threw herself over his body.

"Cold…" Chris said in a whisper.

"Don't you dare die on me!" She shouted as she looked at him.

"It's been years, but I was trained as a medic. Anyone here a type O?" Thomas asked.

No one said a word and finally Tyrone stepped toward him.

"I ain't sure, but my moms was a type O. Maybe I am." He said.

"I hope so." Thomas said as he began hooking up the equipment for an emergency transfusion.

After he hooked them up he looked at the bullet hole and stopped what he was doing. His face looked angry, sad, and lost. He touched his son's head and smiled at him.

"You know… If it wasn't for you son no one would be here. None of us would be alive right now. I'm proud of you, I've always been proud, but I am so proud for what you've done." Thomas said as he walked back and unhooked the transfusion equipment.

"What are you doing?" Trina exclaimed.

"It won't do any good. The bullet is wedged in a such a way that it's keeping the artery that it hit from busting completely open. If I remove it he'll die, if I don't remove it he'll die, but it will be worse. He'll get gangrene and die real slowly. I won't put him through that." Thomas said.

"Tri… Trina…" Chris said softly.

"I'm here baby." She said as she held his hand.

"I…. I lo…. I love you…" He managed to get out before he started getting limp.

"No… Please…." She said as she held him. They watched as his breathing slowed and then stopped.

Trina backed up and held the forty-five revolver he had bought almost a year ago now. She watched as his eyes opened and an unearthly moan escaped his lips.

"I still love you, and there will never, ever be anyone else." She said as she pulled the trigger and watched as his body fell back against the bed.

"Should… Should we b…" Tony started to say before Trina turned around and slapped him hard.

"We aren't going to burn him! He wasn't one of those things he was my husband! We're gonna bury him out here." She said as she walked toward him and touched his face softly.

The others turned around and walked out to give her a little time with him.


	12. Numb

_**(**__**ozsanlol**__**, thanks for reviewing, and unfortunally yes Chris died. I actually planned to have him killed off at one point. I loved his character, but his death is important to the story over all. As much as I loved the character it is going to do something for the prison survivors that they haven't had to deal with before.)**_

_**Living in the Land of the Dead**_

_**Chapter 12 'Numb'**_

'_**Don't take it on board  
Don't fall on your sword  
Just play another chord  
If you feel you're getting bored  
I feel numb  
I feel numb  
Too much is not enough  
I feel numb  
Don't change your brand Gimme what you got  
Don't listen to the band  
Don't gape Gimme what I don't get  
Don't ape  
Don't change your shape Gimme some more'**_ _**– U2**_

The days turned to weeks and the weeks turned to three months after the attack on the prison. During that time Thomas had stepped into place as the doctor for the group, and he had seen the mood swings, violent bouts of morning sickness, and awkward cravings that Debbie had been going through. The girl had been about to drive the entire group nuts, but finally she seemed to get a grip. The one that concerned Thomas at the moment was his daughter – in – law Trina. It hadn't been a month after Chris had been killed that she began to freak out. She finally came to him and explained that she missed her period and together they went into the medical building and had her take a test. It came out positive, and he watched her eyes light up, and then a sort of depression came over her features.

"Thanks dad, I'm… I'm going to go help out in the kitchen." She said as she walked out of the building.

The last two months she had barely said a word to anyone, and he worried that she might not be taking care of herself and the unborn grandchild she carried inside of her. Thomas suddenly came out of his thoughts as he heard a young voice talking to him.

"Grandpa didn't you hear me?" Ana asked as she looked at him.

"Sorry darlin'. I was just busy thinking some deep thoughts. What's on your mind?" He asked.

"I was looking through dad's journal and I saw where he had mentioned the idea of keeping the generator running. Why haven't we made the attempt to go and get the fuel for it?" Ana asked.

"To be completely honest we haven't done any of that because he's not here. Chris was the one who rallied us together. I guess that everyone is sort of pulling into different directions now." Thomas said.

"Dad wouldn't want us to do that." She said as she turned around and began to walk off.

"I know." Thomas said to himself.

Ana left her 'grandfather' feeling confused. Grandpa Thomas was a lot like her dad, but he didn't seem to want to get everyone together. He almost seemed hesitant to step into the role that her dad had set up. She sighed and walked into the room where her mother was looking at a few old pictures.

"Ana, what are you doing today?" Trina asked as she wiped her eyes and looked at the girl that Chris and Tony had saved.

"I was just visiting with Grandpa. I asked about why we haven't gone to get any fuel for the generator, but he really didn't know." She said as she sat down near the woman she had considered to be her mom.

Trina closed her eyes and knew the reason. It was obviously simple when she thought about it. They hadn't gone to get the fuel because there was no leader. Chris had been the leader, unofficial as it was, and he had made the decisions, picked the ones to stay and the ones to go. She knew that those decisions couldn't have been easy, but he had done it for the good of everyone here. She looked at the girl and a soft smile crossed her lips.

"I'll see what I can do about calling a meeting." Trina said as she stood up and walked out of the cell.

Slowly everyone soon became aware of the fact that there was a meeting that was going to be taking place pretty soon. Slowly everyone met in the cafeteria and Trina took a seat at the front of the group and looked at them all.

"I'm sure that most of you are wondering what this is about right?" Trina asked.

"I've got an idea." Tyrone said as he sat next to Nadine.

"We've been running on generator power for the last two months. It hasn't been nessary to go and find fuel since the bus barn has a gas pump, but the tank for the pump is getting close to empty. It won't be much longer until it's completely empty, and when that happens we'll have whatever fuel is left in the generator itself." She said.

"Bloody 'ell, why 'asn't anyone said anything about this before?" Jennifer asked as she looked at them.

"No one said anything because we haven't been working together. These last three months we've been going on our own doing what we need to do separately, and that isn't going to work. Someone needs to take the reins and step up. It was easy to depend on Chris. To be perfectly honest it was too easy. He seemed to understand what was going on, he made tough decisions and stuck by them, and he seemed to be able to pull us together. We don't have the luxury of following him anymore, except for his example. I think that we should elect a new leader to take his place." Trina said.

"Wouldn't it make more sense to elect a commity instead of one person? I mean with one person there is a chance that they won't be coming back. I don't mean anything honey, but like you said we depended too much on your husband." Claudia said as she looked at them.

"I think that a commity sounds good. Like a group of five or six would work for us." Thomas suggested.

"Let's keep it around five." Darrel suggested.

"Alright… I suggest that we each nominate one person each. The ones with the most nominations will be the new commity." Trina suggested.

"I nominate Tyrone." Nadine said.

"I think that my moms should be on it." Barnard said.

"Yeah, Moms should be on it, 'cause she's one of the smartest people here now." Timothy said.

"I'm going to have to say that I think that Tyrone deserves it. He's proven to be resourceful." Thomas said.

"Mom should be on it." Ana said simply.

"Trina… You knew Chris the best, and to be honest you should know a lot of what he knew. It makes sense for you to be on there." Criese said

"I'm going to agree with her Trina. It does make sense for you to be on there." Tony said.

The nominations lasted for a few more minutes and finally the commity was formed. Tyrone, Trina, Claudia, Thomas, and Debbie was all nominated for the positions.

"Alright, now what are you going to do about the fuel for the generator?" Criese asked.

"Tomorrow we'll discuss where the closest gas stations, and refineries are. Once we're sure where they should be we'll decide who should go to get to them." Tyrone said as he looked at everyone.

About three hours later Trina found herself outside sitting beside a single grave. She touched the unpolished stone that Tyrone had found and chiseled into a head stone. She gently touched the name on it.

"I should be mad at you. I want to be mad at you, but I can't get there. I can't because you were right. You said that everyone here would eventually learn to come together on their own. It wasn't completely on their own, but it was close enough. I love you baby, and I want you to know that nothing, nothing is ever going to stop me from loving you." She said as she slowly got up and looked down at the headstone once more.


	13. Uncertainity

_**(**_Bloodflight, Thanks for the fantastic review. It does me good to see that people are enjoying what I've written. That said... here's the latest installment. Guys I know that this is a short chapter, but I figured that a short update is better than no update._**)**_

_**Living in the Land of the Dead**_

_**Chapter 13 'Uncertainty'**_

'_**Uncertainty is killing me  
And I'm certainly not asleep  
Maybe I've gone far to deep  
Maybe I'm just far to weak  
Ands that's the last place  
I want to be the last place'**_ _**– The Fray**_

The sound of thunder erupted across the open road. The last six days had been some of the hardest that anyone at 'Big Mac' had faced. It started when the generator began its hiccups. Slowly it became painfully obvious that someone was going to have to go and get fuel and soon. The council began to nominate those best suited for going and it came down to the fact that they needed an experienced driver, someone to ride shotgun, and at least three more to act as protectors and do the needed work. The only person qualified to drive anything capable of bringing back the amount of fuel they would need was the same person who was their acting doctor.

"It's not a good idea to send him." Claudia said as she looked at the others.

"Good idea or not Thomas is the only one who knows how to drive semi trucks. He was a truck driver for years." Trina said.

"That makes him the best choice." Debbie chimed in.

"The best choice isn't a good choice." Tyrone said.

They looked at the grungy biker as he stood up. His hand pinched the bridge of his nose as he paced lightly.

"Thomas is needed here. There's too much of a chance that he'll get bit, shot, or who knows what else out there. We need a doctor." Tyrone stated.

"What do you suggest?" Debbie asked.

"Thomas needs to teach someone else how to drive a semi. There are a couple of old short bed dump trucks parked out behind the motor pool. He can teach someone the basics and we go from there." Thomas suggested.

"What if they need to think on their feet?" Debbie asked.

"Then they're fucked and so are we. Look we can get by without the electricity. I'm not saying it wouldn't be hard, but fuck we could make it. It would be harder to get by without a doctor." Tyrone said as he sat down.

"The man's got a point." Trina said.

"I'd still volunteer to go." Thomas said before they looked at him.

"No offense meant to you or your son, but the one thing that I can see in you that I saw in him was the fact that he was willing and ready to jump into something dangerous. We can't have that happen." Claudia said.

Thomas nodded and then looked at Tyrone.

"Who wants to learn how to drive one?" he asked.

"You need to teach a few of us, but start with just one to begin with. I'll take the first lesson." Tyrone said.

Thomas walked outside with Tyrone and the two of them walked toward the two old dump trucks. Thomas could tell by looking at them that it wouldn't be much more than the basics learned, but at least that would be something.

"Alright, climb up into the driver's seat. If you're going to learn this then there is no time like the present." Thomas said

Over the course of the next two hours Tyrone put the dump truck through its paces and finally he stopped and killed it.

"Do what I told you, listen to your gut, and pray to God." Thomas said.

Tyrone nodded and walked back in.

"I'm set, so let's see who's going on this thing with me." He said.


	14. Magic Carpet Ride

_**Living in the Land of the Dead**_

_**Chapter 14 'Magic Carpet (ride)'**_

"_**I like to dream yes, yes, right between my sound machine  
On a cloud of sound I drift in the night  
Any place it goes is right  
Goes far, flies near, to the stars away from here**_

Well, you don't know what we can find  
Why don't you come with me little girl  
On a magic carpet ride  
You don't know what we can see  
Why don't you tell your dreams to me  
Fantasy will set you free  
Close your eyes girl  
Look inside girl  
Let the sound take you away" Steppenwolf

(Hanna, Oklahoma – Hanna High – Principal's office)

Tyrone leaned against the wall of the office and looked at the four people who had came with him. Darrel, even though he got a sever tongue lashing from his wife Claudia, Tony, which surprised the hell out of Tyrone, Jennifer, which also surprised him, and lastly the strange and quiet Angel. They had stopped in Hanna even though it was only outside of Mcalester. The reason for the stop had been simply to take measure of what could be brought back with them and the stop at the high school had been to see what kind of supplies they had. The school's cafeteria showed how well stocked it had been. It did seem like most of the electronics had already been raided and stolen. He supposed that the people of Hanna hadn't gotten to the point of being concerned about food.

"Hey, besides stopping to look for something important why did we have to stop?" Angel asked.

Tyrone looked at her and then at the wall. He knew the reason was because the roads near Tulsa would be congested. Chris had told him about having to stop and push cars out of the way on their trip to McAlester. He listened to the way Chris described it and he knew how congested and time consuming it was going to be. The roads so far had been cleared, but that's because they traveled the areas that Chris, Trina, Tony, Criese, Thomas, Darrel, Claudia, Barnard, and Timothy had already come. Past Hanna was uncertain and to be honest Tyrone was just trying to find something that would help in moving the cars. He had hoped that this school had an auto shop class, but his hopes had been dashed. If there would have been one then there could have been a chance for jumper cables, or maybe even a couple of still working batteries, although he doubted that any battery would have a charge after this long.

"I just wanted us to get some rest," He answered

"Well, resting or not we need to get a move on. Those things are bound to know that we've stopped and it's going to be hell to get back into the bus," Angel replied before she leaned against the wall.

That was true. The bus did make a lot of noise and if those dead bunch of sons of bitches heard it they would be following that sound right to them. So far the areas of the school they searched were almost clear. There was one in the library, but it couldn't move. It appeared that something had attacked and ate one of the faculty members in there. They had searched, but none of them had found anything else. A quick stomp to the head had killed the zombie. After that they just went into the principal's office and relaxed. Tyrone looked at Tony who was looking around himself like he was expecting to jump up and grab him at any minute. The man was too jumpy to be coming on a trip like this. Darrel was slightly snoring, which wasn't that surprising since he didn't get much sleep before they left. Tyrone finally nodded and sat up.

"Okay the break is over. We need to get out before too many of those things show up." He said.

Darrel stirred and looked at him. It was as if he couldn't quite focus at first and then he nodded. Slowly he stood and walked with them toward the exit. The moment they got to the front doors they could hear moaning in the distance. Tyrone opened the door and saw a small herd of the undead walking toward the school. It was around fifty or sixty, but he was certain that given time the numbers would be far larger. They moved toward the bus and got in. Tyrone turned the key and after a few turns the engine caught. He put the bus into gear and felt it begin to take off.

He watched as the herd of the undead disappeared behind him in the review mirror. He looked back at the highway and swerved when he saw something _run_ across the street. The moment he swerved he heard a loud bang and felt the front end fighting him. He realized that he was losing control of the bus and a moment later it crashed into the side of a building. Before he could ask a question half a dozen men and women surrounded the bus. Tyrone watched as the doors became forced open and a man stepped onto the bus with a shotgun leveled at him.

"Welcome, welcome new members of the flock, and please know that your sacrifice will bring continued peace between us and the living dead." He said.


End file.
